Burgundy/Late CtW
CtW Guide Arguably the easiest faction to play, Burgundy starts off in control ofTransjurana and Flanders, and enjoys an alliance to that enfant terrible of diplomatic relations, France. On the CtW map, Burgundy starts off occupying the western half of present-day Switzerland, surrounded by four powers: France to the west, the Danish Norse to the north, the Habsburgs to the east, and Venice to the south-east. The general lack of proper resistance to the south-east and north-east grants Burgundy access to a variety of strategic resources: Lorraine to the north and the Italian provinces of Lombardy and Liguria to the south have a total of three supply centres, while Provence to the west and the Tyrolean Alps to the east are rich with rare resources. Capturing Vlaanderen and Vrieslan, and upgrading each of them to a fortification level of three will grant you a reward of three Merchant Guild cards. On top of this, Burgundy also has two armies, in contrast to its beleagured ally France. Burgundy's first task should be to overrun Lorraine to secure its border with France. Once this is done, the Burgundians can then use their armies to take over.the increasingly chaotic German states to the east before the Habsburgs, Danes or Poles manage to rally and take over. But be wary — they will certainly want a part of Germany for themselves and you must be prepared to fight for it. Keep them politically and geographically separate, however, and you might be able to found a greater Burgundian empire which stretches from the Baltic all the way to the Frisian coast. Should you be able to capture the five core territories of the Holy Roman Empire — Swabia, Lorraine, Bavaria, Nordmark and Tyrol — you should then receive a +2 fortification modifer to all your territories. Therefore, It would be wise for the Burgundian player to make an alliance with the power in the direction the player wishes to expand towards. Hence, if your plan is to destroy the Papal States to avoid problems with religious issues later on, you may want to ally with Venice. Alternatively, you can ally with that player and leave him/her in that area to act as a picket while your attention is concentrated elsewhere, or ally with another player in that area: an Anglo-Burgundian alliance is useful if you want to take over France on turn 1, while Poland could act as a reliable ally against the Habsburgs or the Danes. Alternatively, an alliance between Burgundy and Aragon to take out the Papal States is possible, although Venice may be in the way. It might be better to take a page out of history, and to march north first to take Lorraine. Because the French armies are present in the capital, you should be able to take out Lorraine with ease, then providing for a second army which can then be used to fight on elsehwere. Be wary, however — you will need to expand carefully while your French allies can stand up to the English armies. You will need to decide whether to let the French live, or to subsume their territories into your own. Should the French be destroyed by the English, the English may consider turning on you, so you should be wary. CtW objectives *Eliminate all non-aligned factions or acquire 10 colonies *Capture Vlannderen and Vrieslan and upgrade both regions to a fortification level of 3 in order to receive three Merchant Guild cards. *Acquire the following territories before the end of the Castle Age for a +2 fortification bonus to all your regions: **Nordmark **Bavaria **Swabia **Tyrol **Lorraine Initial start: *Territories: Transjurana (level 3); Vrieslan (level 1) *Allies: France *file:tribute.png: 100 *file:bonus.png: 1 x Merchant Corporation; 1 x Mercenaries Category:CtW